Vice President Sara Duterte’s camp believes Ramil Madriaga, a confessed bagman of the Vice President, is the “weakest link” in the impeachment case against her, saying they are “not concerned” about him testifying at the upcoming impeachment hearing in the House of Representatives.

"We're not concerned na magte-testify si Madriaga sa (that Madriaga will testify) House Justice Committee," Atty. Paolo Panelo, Duterte's legal counsel, said in a virtual press briefing on Sunday, April 12.

"We don't mind because we know that whatever he says are lies. And then in the proper forum, which is looking like the Senate, we can definitely prove that he's a fraud," Panelo added.

The only concern they have, Panelo said, was that some people might believe him.

"So, we don't have concerns that he's testifying. The only concern really is baka may maniwala (some people might believe him), because I'm sure it's going to be amplified, puro kalaban ni VP Sara yung nasa House Justice Committee (everyone in the House Justice Committee is against Vice President Sara)," he said.

Duterte's camp also dismissed Madriaga as the "weakest link" in the impeachment case against the Vice President.

"[W]hen they talk about him like he's the smoking gun, he's the missing link to all of this, when really we think he's the weakest link," Panelo said.

"So, as counsel for the perjury case, we're not gonna stop them from self-destructing their case by inviting Madriaga to testify," he added.

Duterte's counsel cited their observation that Madriaga's affidavit does not contain specific dates and other details, making them difficult to verify.

If he gives additional details during his testimony at the House Justice Committee, Panelo said "we will definitely use those against him."

"Kasi kumpiyansa kami na kahit anong sabihin niya kasinungalingan so lalong madidiin siya pagka nagtestify siya sa House Justice Commitee pag nagbigay siya ng additional details (We’re confident that whatever he says is a lie, so he will only implicate himself further if he testifies before the committee and gives more details)," Panelo said.

Panelo also pointed out that while the perjury case filed against Madriaga and his appearance to the impeachment hearing are two separate cases, a resolution of the perjury case would, however, affect the impeachment case.

"But we have no illusion that the perjury complaint will be resolved before the impeachment trial starts. Wala talagang ganung (There is no such) objective. We were conscious of the fact that when we file a perjury complaint most likely the resolution of that will be after the impeachment trial," Panelo said.

"So, hindi naman yun yung objective, yung maging guilty siya (So, that's not the objective, to have him found guilty) during the impeachment trial, that would be, of course, ideal but that was never the objective," he added.

Panelo further said that having Madriaga testify against Duterte in the impeachment hearing would only expose the entire process as political.

"Walang basehan yung mga sinasabi niya. So, in a way, parang natuwa kami na sinasama siya sa impeachment complaint kasi: talaga 'yan yung gagamitin n'yong basehan laban kay VP Sara (His claims have no basis. So in a way, we were actually pleased that he was included in the impeachment complaint, because: really that's what you’re going to use as the basis against VP Sara)," he said.

"That will only expose you, expose this entire process as political process that has nothing to do with evidence and accountability," the lawyer added.

Panelo also reiterated that they have nothing to do with the safety threats against Madriaga, considering their opinion that he is the weakest link in the case to impeach the Vice President.

"In a way you could say that he is our star witness. So we don't want anything bad to happen to him. We want him to testify, we want him to trip on himself for his lies for the world to see. So, it doesn't make sense for us to want him to be hurt or to prevent him from testifying," he stressed.

The House Committee on Justice formally issued subpoenas to Madriaga, as well as the lawyer who notarized his affidavit that contained the new allegations against the impeachment respondent.

They were instructed to appear during the next scheduled hearings on Tuesday, April 14, which was for the determination of probable cause in the two active impeachment complaints against Vice President Duterte.